Comedy Writing

Comedy Writing

There has never been a more crucial time for pointed political satire than the first year of the Trump presidency. Over 2017 and early 2018, The Nib pulled together a team of the nation's best political cartoonists to create a punchy animated web-series. Working with top-notch animation studio Augenblick, The Nib's hilarious 30- to 90-second videos tackle decidedly unfunny topics like abortion access, climate change, and mass incarceration. Published across digital platforms, the videos have garnered millions of views and sparked conversations about issues people would rather avoid. I was the lead writer on the three videos below.

"Hot in here"

Set at the 2024 Republican National Convention—when Trump is running for his third term—"Hot in Here" spells out the Republican's new environmental platform: they've embraced climate change. In fact, climate change is good for the economy (new shipping routes to Russia!) and great for women (more bikinis!). This dark satire hits close to home—just before the video went live in 2017, a Texas Republican published a real-life op-ed extolling the benefits of climate change.

"Equal pay... in spaaaace!"

A glimpse 100 years in the future, when humans are living in space and the gender-based wage gap is finally projected to be abolished. However, so many unfortunate truths remain the same - like men being generally terrible.

"AMERICA first!"

Americans love to say America is the best country in the world. But as Trump puts forward his America First doctrine, it's worth asking: what is America actually first in? This video zips through the highlights, like how we put more people in prison than any other country in the world (first in crime toughness!).

"shmabortion"

The abortion gag rule affects millions of people around the world. If foreign healthcare providers receiving US aid money discuss abortion, they're in danger of the United States yanking their funding. It's a retrograde policy that puts real lives at risk. This short video delves into the impact of the right-wing ban.